ed Orchestra out of tune

Ripples from a head-on collision between Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) CEO Park Hyun-jung and her employees are spreading after Park claimed that music director Chung Myung-whun was behind their demand for her to resign.

During a press conference on Friday, she partly admitted having verbally abused her employees. But the Samsung executive-turned-orchestra president speculated that disclosure of her abusive remarks made by employees was Maestro Chung’s attempt to make her a political scapegoat in his bid to renew his contract with Seoul municipal city, which is due to expire at the end of this month.

Park accused Chung of having run the SPO like a private organization, wielding dogmatic power regarding how the municipal orchestra was formed and how its budget was to be allocated. She also indicated that she faced pressure to resign after trying to remove staff who had been comfortable with the SPO’s sloppy and idle culture since Chung’s inauguration in February 2013.

All this raises the possibility that Park may have caused all this brouhaha while trying to graft the aggressive corporate culture at Samsung Life Insurance, her previous workplace, on to the SPO. However, in the process, 13 staff members, nearly half of the prestigious ensemble’s 27 employees, left the orchestra, arguing that they could no longer endure Park’s abuse. And on Tuesday, 17 produced a petition demanding that she resign immediately.

As things stand now, it is not easy to judge which side is right. But with the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) investigating the internal brawl, the truth will come out soon.

But what is clear is that Park will have no excuse for her misconduct, including verbal abuse and possibly sexual harassment, as protesting employees have provided an audio recording as evidence. Judging from her harsh remarks ― Park once said her subordinates ``should sell their organs to make up for corporate losses” ― it is not too much to say that she has lost her authority and leadership as head of a public organization.

She should also have acted strongly to correct the SPO’s problems through her authority as CEO before pointing her finger at conductor Chung, who has received a lot of praise for his efforts to make the SPO one of the world’s top orchestras.

So Park is right to resign immediately as she promised, assuming responsibility for her verbal violence. Of course, all the problems she alleged concerning the orchestra and Chung should be investigated thoroughly.

Given that the orchestra depends mostly on taxpayers’ money, the SPO does not deserve to survive if it continues to cause a cacophony.